3. Will the First Minister make a statement on the progress of the Cardiff capital region city deal? OAQ53654

I thank the Member for the question. The Cardiff capital deal continues to make progress in responding to the major social and economic challenges of its constituent authorities. The programme office is being expanded to take forward a range of projects currently in development, in order to translate them into tangible investments over the course of this year.  

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. One of the projects, obviously, that are identified in the city deal is the link between junction 34 and the A48 at Sycamore Cross. This is a deal that's been on the table for some time, this improvement, and, as you can understand, many residents are concerned about the proposals—in particular, the property blight that's been caused by some of the indecision around some of the proposals. Can you outline today what commitment the Welsh Government is giving to this project and when it might come to a climax over a decision in relation to any Government funding that might be made available?

I thank the Member for that question. I want to make sure that I give him the best possible answer to it, and I will check some of the detail that he has asked about and make sure that I write to him to set all that out for him in that way. He is right to say that the Cardiff capital deal has an ambitious set of projects. The £50 million metro plus programme, which has been approved by the cabinet of the Cardiff capital deal, makes investments in transport infrastructure right across all 10 local authorities and is part, I know, of the determination of the capital region city deal to invest in those underlying conditions that will create a successful economy for all 10 constituent authorities. And, on the specific question, as I say, I will check the details properly and make sure the Member has the best answer I can provide.

At a conference last week on city deals, the future generations commissioner spoke about building equality metrics into the city deals so that, as well as providing clear and measurable indicators, they would also provide beneficial outcomes in and of themselves—for example, a reduction perhaps in numbers of children in care or improved life expectancy. What are the Government's views on this?

Our view, Llywydd—I thank the Member for pointing to the views of the commissioner—is that of course the city deal has to be more than a set of individual economic possibilities. It has to extend into that wider set of measures that help us to see whether the city deal is having an impact in the lives of the wider citizenry within the 10 local authorities, and I'm pleased to say that the city deal has been taking the advice of the commissioner very seriously. In their quarter 3 performance report, published only very recently, you will see that a formal future generations assessment framework has now been put in place for all the decisions that are to be made by the cabinet of the city deal and that these will include individual, measurable indicators on all the well-being of future generations strands, and that includes the equality strands that the Member has pointed to this afternoon. So, the work the commissioner is doing is having a direct impact on the thinking of the deal, and I think that that will help the deal itself to demonstrate to citizens in the area the type of impacts that it is seeking to achieve.

What progress has been made as part of the city deal on improving transport infrastructure around the Llantrisant Road corridor?

Well, as I said, Llywydd, there is a £50 million metro plus programme that the city deal has already approved. That does involve improvements to transport from the north-west of Cardiff out into Rhondda Cynon Taf. There are other conversations going on involving Transport for Wales, the local Member for Pontypridd and the two local authorities as well as the Welsh Government, and they aim to form a coherent response to the transport needs of that part of both the capital city and the Llantrisant part of the RCT local authority.